ADVISORY FOR AAS BRIEFING ON JUNE 15, 2016
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
WEDNESDAY: LIGO, Virgo scientists discuss continued search for
gravitational waves at AAS meeting
The international collaborators will comment on their ongoing research, at their first press
conference since the historic observation of gravitational waves.
WHAT: Scientists from the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC) and the Virgo Collaboration will
discuss their latest research in the effort to detect gravitational waves, at the 228th meeting of the
American Astronomical Society (AAS) in San Diego, California. The briefing is scheduled to begin at
10:15 AM Pacific Daylight Time on Wednesday, June 15th.
The U.S.-based LSC and the European collaboration Virgo have long been close partners in the search
for gravitational waves. The first detection of gravitational waves, announced on February 11, 2016,
was a milestone in physics and astronomy; it confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915
general theory of relativity, and marked the beginning of the new field of gravitational-wave
astronomy.
LIGO, a system of two identical detectors carefully constructed to detect incredibly tiny vibrations
from passing gravitational waves, was conceived and built by MIT and Caltech researchers, funded by
the National Science Foundation, with significant contributions from other U.S. and international
partners. The twin detectors are located in Livingston, Louisiana and Hanford, Washington.
Virgo, which was designed and built by a collaboration between the French Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the Italian Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), is a
giant laser interferometer designed to detect gravitational waves. It is now operated in Cascina, Italy
by an international collaboration of scientists from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and
Hungary.
Journalists unable to attend the briefing in person can participate via live webcast. Remote
participants will be able to ask questions via a chat window accompanying the webcast. Please contact
AAS Press Officer Rick Fienberg (rick.fienberg@aas.org) for the password.
For additional background about the project, you may be interested in these websites:
•
•
•
•
LIGO Scientific Collaboration: http://www.ligo.org/
Virgo Collaboration: http://www.virgo-gw.eu/
LIGO Laboratory: https://www.ligo.caltech.edu
Media Assets related to the announcement on February 11, 2016: https://
mediaassets.caltech.edu/gwave
WHEN:
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
10:15 AM US PDT/1:15 PM US EDT
WHERE:
Hilton San Diego Bayfront
1 Park Boulevard
San Diego, CA 92101
WHO:
• Gabriela González, LIGO Scientific Collaboration spokesperson, Louisiana State University
• Fulvio Ricci, Virgo spokesperson, INFN and Sapienza University of Rome
• David Reitze, Executive Director of LIGO, Caltech
MEDIA RSVP & INQUIRIES
ADVISORY FOR AAS BRIEFING ON JUNE 15, 2016
Journalists interested in attending the AAS briefing should contact Rick Fienberg for details about onsite registration. A mult box will be available for broadcast media, and the Hilton San Diego Bayfront
is equipped with wireless access.
For all other press inquiries related to the research being presented, additional questions or access to
embargoed materials, please contact the media officers listed below.
LIVE WEBCAST:
For press not based in the San Diego area, this event will be simulcast live online, and we will try to
answer some questions submitted remotely. Please contact AAS Press Officer Rick Fienberg
(rick.fienberg@aas.org) for the password.
###
LIGO/VIRGO MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kimberly Allen, LIGO (MIT)
(617) 253-2702; allenkc@mit.edu
Whitney Clavin, LIGO (Caltech)
(626) 395-1856; wclavin@caltech.edu
Mimi LaValle, LSC (LSU)
(225) 578-1194; mlavall@lsu.edu
Severine Perus, EGO-Virgo
+39 050752325; severine.perus@ego-gw.it
Antonella Varaschin, INFN
+39 3495384481; antonella.varaschin@presid.infn.it
+39 066868162
Eleonora Cossi, INFN
+ 39 3452954623 eleonora.cossi@presid.infn.it
+39 066868162